Trading exchange for nanomaterials to launch in 2011

Sara Ver-Bruggen - 16 Jun 2010

In 2011 a global commodities exchange will go live, linking up buyers and investors with suppliers of nano-engineered materials, to help unlock the commercial potential of this far-reaching field of technology.

The Integrated Nano-Science and Commodity Exchange (INSCX) will provide a 24-hour trading platform for nanomaterials, akin to exchanges for commodities such as oil, metals and grains.

The exchange could help suppliers of nanomaterials - for example carbon nanotubes, quantum dots and nanoceramics - find buyers in the form of companies developing products that exploit the properties of various advanced materials. Developers work across applications as diverse as LCD and OLED displays, new types of solar cells, optical films, conductive inks, medical diagnostic devices, barrier packaging and engine lubricants.

Buyers and investors would benefit from being able to buy nanomaterials, on an open and transparent platform, which have been subject to the AssuredNano Safety, Health and Environment (SHE) accreditation scheme. The exchange will provide them with the option to buy from more than one source.

INSCX's CEO is Charles McGovern, a qualified stockbroker and professional risk trader across securities and commodity markets for US and international investment houses. McGovern announced the exchange initiative at this year's NanoMaterials2010 conference on 8-10 June, in London. NanoCentral, which founded the event as part of its strategy to aid the commercial application of nanomaterials, supports the proposed platform.

Nanomaterials maturing

Presentations at the event came from the likes of David Baxter, the lead researcher in emerging risks for the global insurer Lloyds, Cientifica's Tim Harper, who has also founded a specialist VC firm, and Matthias Hölling, who manages technology transfer activity within ETH Zurich. The conference tackled some of the key challenges and risks facing suppliers of nanomaterials and developers of products exploiting them.

Discussions and presentations focused on alternative financing sources, with instructive examples of failed nanotechnology start-ups; an emphasis on developing products and solutions based on nanomaterials to meet real societal needs; demands for the long-term, addressing how to equip start-ups with the right management team that can take new technology from the realms of science and guide it towards commercial opportunities; media perceptions of nano and other emerging technologies; and managing risk from an insurer's perspective.

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